Amidst final exams and group projects, one Gallatin club guarantees a weekly source of comfort for every stressed-out NYU student. Cookies & Coloring offers an array of delicious baked treats — vegan and gluten-free options included — while simultaneously encouraging art therapy.

The club began within Gallatin in 2004, and receives annual funding from the Gallatin Student Council. The group is currently run by a trio of Gallatin students — junior Emily Bellor, sophomore Brian Christensen Zapiecki and junior Leo de Rothschild — appointed by the previous executive board, and refers to itself as an oligarchy.

According to its email list, Cookies & Coloring has roughly 300 members — including star student AnnaSophia Robb — but the typical meeting only sees between 20-30 members.

Bellor, who joined as a freshman, recalls learning about the club before setting foot on campus.

“I heard [about the club] when I was applying [to NYU] and I was like ‘Cookies and coloring, that’s too good to be true,’” Bellor said.

Now Bellor serves on the club’s executive board, and encourages students to join the club for their own mental health.

”Everyone’s just so stressed out with school and work and it came from the need to just have a place to be laid back, to relax and literally just eat cookies and color and make friends,” Bellor said.

De Rothschild, who also joined as a freshman, credits the club’s easygoing nature as its attracting factor.

”I think it was [at the club fair] that I was like, ‘Oh, this seems like a club where I can come and go every week and then forget about it,’” de Rothschild said. “It’s fun to do something nice, and then you can walk away from it and not even have to think about it anymore.”

De Rothschild appreciates both the club’s effect on his mental state and the diversity of the group.

“It’s not just Gallatin kids — it’s kids from everywhere, all backgrounds,” de Rothschild said.

While the club creates a safe environment for members to make friends and wind down after a long week, another obvious hallmark is the cookies. Meetings include a variety of various cookies, according to all preferences and dietary restrictions, in an effort to be as inclusive as possible.

Steinhardt junior Angelica Moore is a vegan and still can enjoy the club meetings.

“My favorite is the soft-baked snickerdoodles from Trader Joe’s, mainly because these are vegan and gluten-free,” Moore said.

For some members it’s about the cookie and others the coloring, but a common compliment heard from almost all of the club’s members is that the club fosters friendships.

“I ended up meeting some of my best friends here,” Bellor said.

Cookies & Coloring offers a carefree atmosphere within an extracurricular that allows students to socialize with others outside of their own school. Cookies & Coloring hosts meetings every Thursday from 1-4 p.m. in the Gallatin School for Individualized Study at 1 Washington Pl in the 5th floor lounge.

Email Alyssa Lynn Kelly at [email protected].